Outside the Lines, Vol. 1 is a collection of rarities from 1993-2003. It includes one-offs recorded for compilation CDs, collaborations, and early versions of album tracks. There’s a heavy emphasis on piano/vocal arrangements, going all the way back to the first Color Theory 4-track demos. Warning – for serious fans only!

Until the end of this week, you can get it for $5 using discount code piano.

Listen and download Outside the Lines, Vol. 1 here.

Today marks my official recovery from the holidays. Hopefully you’re not such a late bloomer! Here’s what’s been keeping me busy:

Uncovering Antiques

We donated several carloads of stuff to Goodwill, and in the process I uncovered a relic:

I paid $500 for this beauty, which houses a CD player locked in a solid steel chassis, with attached headphones for potential buyers to try before they buy. Steve Jobs singlehandedly rendered it obsolete. Any ideas what I can do with it? I can’t even figure out how to remove the CD, so it’s effectively a “Life’s Fairytale machine.”

Windows to Mac, take two

Once upon a time in 1996, I decided to switch to Mac, so I picked up a Quadra 650. Pro Tools was out of my league financially, so I opted for the $3000 Digidesign Session 8, a three rack space unit capable of playing back eight tracks (!) of audio at once. Sad to say it didn’t “just work.” The thing crashed constantly, so I switched back to Windows after wrapping up my second album, Tuesday Song.

A few hours with the tablet-friendly but otherwise underwhelming Windows 8 Developer Preview convinced me to make the switch again. Here’s my new even more minimalist setup, centered around a pimped out Mac Mini Server:

Bad USB Keys

Everyone who ordered The Complete Color Theory should have received it by now (there are still a handful left). A few fans had problems with the USB key reporting that it was write protected. If yours is affected, please let me know and we’ll get it replaced!

“New” Releases

There are two “new” b-sides releases on the horizon (owners of the USB key already have all the material), one of which contains my version of a song by The Midway State. I recorded it a couple months ago for a commercial placement with McDonalds in Ukraine that looked promising for a few weeks, but ultimately fell through.

You may have noticed that the “song a month” plan didn’t work out. You guys made it clear that you prefer more than one song at a time, and I wasn’t able to find an affordable, reliable graphic designer to handle the cover art. Maybe a 5-song EP is the way to go?

Ruslan Tagirov’s debut album, Standing on a Bridge, is now available for pay-what-you-want download here. I sing on three of the songs, and wrote the lyrics for two. One of those is “Can’t Wait for the Night,” which details Ruslan’s days slaving away at his IT job, in anticipation of long nights making music.

When I first released my tribute to Depeche Mode, I offered an incentive for fans to buy the CD directly from me: a bonus remix every month for a year. For the first time, I’m releasing those remixes (plus a couple of bonuses) as a set, remastered from their original source materials.

That’s right, remasters of remixes of remakes.

Until the end of this week, you can get it for $5 using discount code breastpump (why?).

Listen and download Color Theory presents Depeche Mode: The Remixes here.

The Best 1994-2011 features the top two fan favorites from five albums:

The Sound (2010)
The Thought Chapter (2008)
Life’s Fairytale (2001)
Perfect Tears (1999)
Sketches in Grey (1994)

Download it for free through Christmas Day!

EDIT: Thanks for all the downloads, and Happy New Year!

As a Christmas gift of sorts, I’d like to release a free download-only “best of” album with your 10 favorite songs. Please let me know what those are by taking this one-question survey.

I’m busy with family stuff for the next few days, but I’ll be able to answer any questions you might have early next week. Happy Thanksgiving!

UPDATE: Thanks for your help! The album will go live tomorrow.

Last year I had the pleasure of working with Jon Russell a.k.a. Jonteknik, who has had the even bigger pleasure of working with Paul Humphreys (of OMD) and Claudia Brucken (of Propaganda) on their Onetwo releases Item and Instead.

The result of our collaboration is featured on The Complete Color Theory.

I created a short video retrospective to commemorate the release of The Complete Color Theory. I’m sure many of you could do better (and I encourage you to try!), but it at least succeeds at making me feel old. Nonetheless, the best is yet to come.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA4wWuXLnc0

Explore the darker side of Color Theory with this free 6-track EP, available through Halloween!

UPDATE 11/1/11: I’m overwhelmed by the number of downloads and emails! I’m glad you enjoyed it, and hope you had a fantastic Halloween.

The Complete Color Theory features 217 tracks on 15 albums (3 are double albums), completely remastered from the original source materials in both mp3 and lossless FLAC formats, on a custom laser-engraved 8 GB USB key. Bonus materials include scans all of CD artwork, sheet music, plus a PDF scrapbook full of photos, lyric sketches, and various other embarrassments.

I asked you how much I should sell them for, and $99 was the clear consensus (I’ll cover the shipping). That seems reasonable to me, but I don’t think it’s fair that someone who already bought most of the albums has to pay the same as someone who hasn’t bought any. So…

During the pre-order period, you’ll receive a $5 credit off the $99 price for each of the 10 official Color Theory releases you’ve already paid at least $5 for. That means many of you will get it for half off: $49.

On November 1, it will be set in stone at $99, regardless of your purchase history.

UPDATE 11/1/11: The pre-order period has ended, and today I start mailing them out in order of payment received. It looks to be a limited edition of 75, the last few of which are available here.